SINGAPORE | Barely had Michelle Wie
hammered her hybrid into the ground
and followed up with an expletive at her
eighth hole on Sunday than it was all
over the Internet.
Spencer Robinson, writing in Asian
Golf Daily, had watched as a handful of people captured the scene on
their phones and discussed goings-on
among themselves.
“I’ve never heard such an outburst
from a pro golfer right in front of fans,”
said one spectator, who had obviously
not seen too much of this sport. “It was
terrible to see, especially for the chil-
dren. What kind of example does it set?”
Wie, when she came in after add-
ing a second 75 to earlier rounds of 79
and 81, to finish just one away from the
bottom slot, could not have been more
apologetic: “It was unacceptable, espe-
cially in front of all those kids. I abso-
lutely apologise. Everything boiled up.”
She described her week as “abso-
lutely horrible” before going on to say
that it had almost been a relief to play
that badly. “I’ve got a lot to work on and
I know where to start.”
The expectation was her outburst was
going to be reviewed by LPGA officials.
you would think in Asia. A thriving
Asian golfing fraternity cannot believe
that the LPGA did not opt for the HSBC
Women’s Champions above one more
Western event, especially when women’s golf is the fastest-growing sector
of the lot in these parts.
To give just a couple of illustrations of
what is happening, TaylorMade is introducing an exclusive line in women’s clubs
out here, which is something that has
never been done before. Along much the
same lines, Asian Golf Monthly has seen
a startling change in readership. Where,
10 years ago, only five per-cent of the
readers were women, that figure is now
heading towards the 25 per-cent mark.
Sorenstam practised what she
preached in 2004. That was when she
advised an open-mouthed press corps
that she intended to win the original
Grand Slam of all four majors in the
one summer. At the time, everyone was
aghast that so shy a soul would give
public utterance to such an ambition.
The Swede’s explanation, then, went
something like this. “Letting everyone
in on my secret helps to concentrate
the mind.” For the record, she won one
major in 2004, two in 2005 and the last
of her 10 in 2006.
Ai Miyazato has this lovely slow action
which, if it should go wrong, responds
well to what the player calls “my tai chi
swing.” This consists of taking three minutes over a slow-motion version in
which she checks that all her muscles
are in the right place at the right point.
Last year’s announcement that the
Evian would be the LPGA’s fifth major
has caused more consternation than
Since 23-year-old Tseng only needs
a U.S. Women’s Open to complete a
career Grand Slam, it goes without say-
ing that people are asking her how she
feels about her chances in this year’s
Open at Blackwolf Run, in Kohler, Wis.
Up until now, she has tended to skirt
round the subject but, after listening to
Annika Sorenstam’s words of advice,
she has adopted a different approach.
From left: IK Kim, Michelle Wie, Morgan Pressel, Yani Tseng, Beatriz Recari,
Melissa Reid, Suzann Pettersen, Se Ri Pak, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis.
Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend
SINGAPORE | Paula Creamer, who
had to hurry home for personal reasons during the event, seized the opportunity to be among 10 players who
wore Tiffany and Co. jewelry worth a
total of $11 million at a Wednesday
fashion show at Raffles Hotel.
L.M.
the tournament’s disappearance.
“I don’t think we’re done in Sin-
gapore, I don’t think we’re done with
HSBC,” is how he responded at a press
conference of his own.
